As Sethe walked to work, late for the first time in sixteen years and wrapped in a timeless present,Stamp Paid fought fatigue and the habit of a lifetime. Baby Suggs refused to go to the Clearingbecause she believed they had won; he refused to acknowledge any such victory. Baby had noback door; so he braved the cold and a wall of talk to knock on the one she did have. He clutchedthe red ribbon in his pocket for strength. Softly at first, then harder. At the last he bangedfuriously-disbelieving it could happen. That the door of a house with coloredpeople in it did not flyopen in his presence. He went to the window and wanted to cry. Sure enough, there they were, nota one of them heading for the door. Worrying his scrap of ribbon to shreds, the old man turned andwent down the steps. Now curiosity joined his shame and his debt. Two backs curled away fromhim as he looked in the window. One had a head he recognized; the other troubled him. He didn'tknow her and didn't know anybody it could be. Nobody, but nobody visited that house.
After a disagreeable breakfast he went to see Ella and John to find out what they knew. Perhapsthere he could find out if, after all these years of clarity, he had misnamed himself and there wasyet another debt he owed. Born Joshua, he renamed himself when he handed over his wife to hismaster's son. Handed her over in the sense that he did not kill anybody, thereby himself, becausehis wife demanded he stay alive. Otherwise, she reasoned, where and to whom could she returnwhen the boy was through? With that gift, he decided that he didn't owe anybody anything.
Whatever his obligations were, that act paid them off. He thought it would make himrambunctious, renegade — a drunkard even, the debtlessness, and in a way it did. But there wasnothing to do with it. Work well; work poorly. Work a little; work not at all. Make sense; makenone. Sleep, wake up; like somebody, dislike others. It didn't seem much of a way to live and itbrought him no satisfaction. So he extended this debtlessness to other people by helping them payout and off whatever they owed in misery. Beaten runaways? He ferried them and rendered thempaid for; gave them their own bill of sale, so to speak. "You paid it; now life owes you." And thereceipt, as it were, was a welcome door that he never had to knock on, like John and Ella's in frontof which he stood and said, "Who in there?" only once and she was pulling on the hinge.
"where you been keeping yourself? I told John must be cold if Stamp stay inside.""Oh, I been out." He took off his cap and massaged his scalp. "Out where? Not by here." Ella hungtwo suits of underwear on a line behind the stove.
"Was over to Baby Suggs' this morning.""What you want in there?" asked Ella. "Somebody invite you in?""That's Baby's kin. I don't need no invite to look after her people.""Sth." Ella was unmoved. She had been Baby Suggs' friend and Sethe's too till the rough time.
Except for a nod at the carnival, she hadn't given Sethe the time of day.
"Somebody new in there. A woman. Thought you might know who is she.""Ain't no new Negroes in this town I don't know about," she said. "what she look like? You surethat wasn't Denver?""I know Denver. This girl's narrow.""You sure?""I know what I see.""Might see anything at all at 124.""True.""Better ask Paul D," she said.
"Can't locate him," said Stamp, which was the truth although his efforts to find Paul D had beenfeeble. He wasn't ready to confront the man whose life he had altered with his graveyardinformation.
"He's sleeping in the church," said Ella.
"The church!" Stamp was shocked and very hurt.
"Yeah. Asked Reverend Pike if he could stay in the cellar.""It's cold as charity in there!""I expect he knows that.""What he do that for?""Hes a touch proud, seem like.""He don't have to do that! Any number'll take him in."Ella turned around to look at Stamp Paid. "Can't nobody read minds long distance. All he have todo is ask somebody.""Why? Why he have to ask? Can't nobody offer? What's going on? Since when a blackma............